Do What's Right!

For Tuesday, February 24, 2026:

Romans 7:15-17 NLT: “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.”

Have you ever found yourself in a similar predicament? You’ve been introduced to Jesus, you believe, and want to live your life his way. And yet you find yourself slipping back into your old, sinful behavior. In spite or your best intentions, the author of sin makes sin look attractive and drags you down into the muck once again. You don’t want to do wrong. You swore you’d never do those bad things again. And yet here we find ourselves!

The author of this Epistle is as human as we are. “I want to do what is right, but instead I do what I hate.” Fortunately, there is no limit to God’s love. If our heartfelt desire is to do the right thing, we can confess, repent and return to the Lord as often as need be. God offers forgiveness in abundance, free to all who confess and plead for redemption.

I believe that the longer we’re believers, the fewer encounters we’ll have with sin. We will become better people, more acceptable in the eyes of the Lord. He’ll need to forgive us less often because we’ll have a firmer grip on living according to God’s instructions.

When in doubt, just do what Jesus did!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

The Father’s House

Truth and Freedom Church

Knowledge of Good/Evil!

 October 13, 2025,Monday Message:

Hebrews 10:29 NLT: “Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.

Sometimes we’re better off not knowing. Let me explain.

When Adam and Eve were first created, they didn’t know about sin and judgment. They innocently romped through the Garden of Eden, doing whatever they pleased and enjoying life. Sometimes God would walk with them in the evening, along the stream. Understand that Adam and Eve couldn’t sin, because they had no knowledge of right and wrong. God had told them, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

God was right! Predictably, mankind did exactly what they were told to NOT do! Eve saw that this unique fruit (knowledge of good and evil) was good, and offered some to her husband. Knowing they had done wrong, both hid from the Lord. With the transfer of knowledge, the bar had been raised. Now that they could discern good from evil, they were expected to choose “good.” Now that they could separate right from wrong, they were expected to choose “right.” As it was, they surely would have perished without the intervention of Jesus, who took the sins of the world upon himself.

In today’s example, the people knew all about Jesus and the new covenant. So ignoring those things would constitute willful and intentional disobedience, people thinking their way was better than God’s way. It never is.

As we model our lives following the footsteps of Jesus, we should be accustomed to knowing good from evil, and always choosing “good.” We may not be perfect, but our God is a God of second chances. Our shortcomings won’t derail God’s goals for us!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Trust!

For Tuesday, July 16, 2024:

1 Peter 4:19 NLT: “If you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.”

If you are suffering, that isn’t from God. Sin runs rampant in the human race, and those doing good, those obeying God’s instructions are often criticized out of jealousy, greed or narcissism. God wants us to continue doing right whether criticized or not, whether suffering or not.

Doing the right things for the right reasons is a worthy goal. We already know what to do because, with the New Covenant, God wrote his laws on our hearts. He gave us a conscience. And God gave us the gift of discernment. We don’t need to waste time looking things up in a book. Now we instinctively know right from wrong!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart! He will never fail you!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship